Beyond the Call: Celebrating Acts of Bravery and Compassion

Calgary Fire Department recognizes 25 Calgarians in annual ceremony

Twenty-five Calgarians were honoured for their bravery and decisive actions at a recognition event hosted by the Calgary Fire Department at Fort Calgary today. Fire Chief Steve Dongworth awarded the courageous recipients with certificates of Appreciation, Recognition and medals of Commendation. The recipients were nominated by citizens and members of the Fire Department for their contribution during incidents in the last two years.

“Making our City safer is something we strive to do at the Calgary Fire Department every day,” says Chief Dongworth. “It’s our mission to serve the community through excellence in prevention, education, protection and emergency response. However, we can’t execute that mission without assistance from members of our community.”

“Sometimes community members truly become the first of the first responders. Today we recognized some amazing Calgarians that made a choice greater than themselves, acting with bravery and compassion to help others.”

Among the 25 recipients are the following stories:

While working as a caregiver for a six-year-old child, Sharon Lei Robino looked out of the window and saw smoke on the balcony. There, a growing fire had begun due to careless disposal of smoking materials from another resident. Sharon immediately had her neighbor call 9-1-1, moved the child to safety and extinguished the fire using pails of water. Her quick actions prevented the fire from spreading and causing significant damage to the building.

Christian Prado was driving on Crowchild Trail when he spotted a vehicle that had rolled down an embankment. When he got out, he saw the car was on fire and there was a woman crying for help. Without hesitation, he ran over and pulled the woman from the burning car, carrying her to safety. Christian’s quick actions saved the women from serious injury and possible death.

Nadim Jessa and Vitor Sousa were working at a hotel in Calgary when a fire broke out in one of the suites. Vitor and Nadim immediately grabbed a fire extinguisher and went to the suite and found the room was filling with smoke. Vitor expelled the fire extinguisher towards the base of the fire. He then saw a man’s hand emerge through the smoke. Grabbing the man’s hand, Vitor pulled him out of the room. Both Vitor and Nadim acted quickly and were vital in saving the man’s life.

A City employee on his route for Waste and Recycling Services, Tony Madden heard screaming nearby and saw a woman run up to his truck. A child had been accidentally locked in the house with the smoke alarm sounding due to food burning on the stove. Tony accompanied the woman to the house and, with her permission, he kicked in the door to rescue the child from the house, now filling with smoke. Tony’s actions saved the child from serious injury and prevented a house fire.

All 25 recipients and their stories can be found in the 2019 event program for Beyond the Call that is attached in the download section of the newsroom.

Beyond the Call is the Calgary Fire Department’s annual ceremony and luncheon that formally recognizes exceptional acts by citizens and emergency service personnel, both on and off-duty. The award recipients have been nominated by Fire Department members and citizens for their bravery and decisive action, recognizing their outstanding contributions to the health and well-being of fellow citizens.

Members of the public can nominate citizens and emergency service personnel who have acted in an exceptional way during an incident attended by the Calgary Fire Department. To nominate someone, please contact The City’s 311 line and ask to submit your nominee to the Beyond the Call program.

For more information on the Calgary Fire Department, please visit calgary.ca/fire.